Uno Moo is a fun game for older toddlers and preschoolers. The children push the animals into the barn by matching either the color or the animal. The winner is the first person to get all their pieces back into the barn!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

On May 4th, one of the ‘behind the scenes’ girls here at Totally Tots, Jolanthe, will be headed to Tanzania as a Compassion Blogger. This is an amazing opportunity and she is so excited to share with others the work that Compassion International does in the country of Tanzania.

We would all LOVE to invite you to follow along with Jolanthe’s trip as she travels with the rest of the team, visiting Compassion centers in Tanzania and sharing her thoughts, pictures and updates of her time there. You can follow along on her blog Homeschool Creations. The dates that the team will be in Tanzania will be May 6th through 11th.

Can we ask you to pray for Jolanthe and the team as they travel {far, far away}? Pray for health, safety, and those that they will be with during their time.

If you would like to know more about sponsoring a child with Compassion International, just click on the banner below for more information. Sponsoring is not only a blessing to the child that you sponsor, but also to your family as well. Over the years you develop a relationship with the child as you exchange letters, pictures, and most importantly the love of Jesus.

If you click over and see a little {heart} next to a child picture, that represents a child that has been waiting 6 months or longer for someone to sponsor him/her.

Thank you SO much in advance for your prayers and support for Jolanthe!

Farm Puppet Show

We used our pieces for “Old MacDonald” and also a guessing game. I would give out clues/riddles and my little guy would put up the animal he thought was the answer. These pieces would also be good for “Farmer in the Dell”.

That’s it!! Just have fun playing together and acting out the story. Have your little one act out the story as you read it from the book.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The sweet spot. It’s when things are perfect . . . for even just a moment. John Bowman, author of Montessori at Home , describes the sweet spot as the balance between between boredom and frustration.

Activities that are too easy will cause boredom, and will not hold your child’s attention. Activities that are too difficult will cause frustration. Both are extremes to be avoided.

If you will recall, last month I touched on the idea of work. Gabe has begun to enjoy “working” around the house. After all, he is growing up (or so he reminds me every hour) as his 4th birthday draws near. He is very curious about our new pet(s). We have worms living in our kitchen. Because he feeds our dog on a regular basis, he REALLY wants to feed the worms.

Feeding the worms in not a daily occurrence. But my little boy is having a hard time understanding this because he eats multiple times a day. Trying to capitalize on his desire to help, his initiative to work at helping keep our worms alive, and my need to provide bedding for our slim creatures, I have found a “sweet spot” for Gabe.

Tearing up Starbucks drink carriers.

You could call it a stretch by naming this a Montessori activity . . . but it captures the idea of the Learning Sweet Spot.

Now, this may sound super easy. It may sound mundane. But Gabe LOVES it. I like it because it makes Gabe happy, he chats with me while he “works,” and he is developing not only fine motor skills BUT perseverance.

Have you found your child’s Learning Sweet Spot? What activity have you provided recently that challenges your student’s mind without leading to frustration?

What are you waiting for? Go and have a Montessori Moment at Home with your Little! To review what we have covered so far in our Montessori at Home journey, click here.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

We have been having some great weather so I couldn’t resist doing a fun number activity with the girls outside. Number Freeze Dance was super easy to set up and the girls had so much fun practicing number recognition as well as getting exercise and enjoying the beautiful weather!!

To set this up I just wrote some large numbers on our cement patio with sidewalk chalk. Next time I am planning on using our homemade Sidewalk Chalk Paint, since the colors are much more vibrant.

Next, I put on some music and the girls danced around.

Now for the learning part, when I stopped the music I would either say “Freeze on the number 4” and the girls would have to quickly find the number I called out or “Freeze, stop on a number” and the girls would have to pick any number that is near by and then tell me what number they were on. The girls loved both ways and are already asking to go out and play some more!

Little Hands-on ABC’s and 123’s is a bi-monthly feature that focuses on practical and simple ideas that you can do at home to help your tot develop their letter and number skills.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Lacing practice for preschoolers is easy to set up. Give them something with holes and some string and let them go! As they gain the fine motor skills necessary, then we can work on the "rules" of lacing/sewing.

Lacing practice is perfect for fine motor skills and working on your tot's pincer grasp to help them strengthen their handwriting muscles. There are a variety of ways to make lacing or sewing cards perfect for little hands, but this is my version.